Author: reading.the.classics

Each year again, I fail to finish this challenge. The reading part I get done quite easily, but reviewing I do once or twice and then give up. Every year I try again though, and why not, because it is such a fun challenge.

Here are this year’s categories, and my chosen book for each:

19th Century Classic.

David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens is my choice. Dickens is not my favourite author, but I do want to at least once read all of his most famous works.

20th Century Classic.

Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley.

Classic by a Female Author.

Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell. This book has been on my TBR for years. It was one of my Mum’s favourite books, so it really is time to read it.

Classic in Translation.

Thérèse Raquin, by Emile Zola

Classic Comedy.

Cold Comfort Farm, by Stella Gibbons

Classic Tragedy.

Tess of D’urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy

Very Long Classic.

War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy.

I tried and failed, tried and failed. A bit like this challenge I guess.

This was my first ever Sherlock, and it did not disappoint. In A Study in Scarlet we meet Sherlock Holmes and his companion, Dr. Watson for the first time. Dr. Watson gets to know how the mind of the eccentric Sherlock works, as Sherlock slowly reveals how he solves a crime. Throughout the book you get to know these two main characters in depth, as well as the murderer’s character. The first part of the book tells of a murder scene, and we see Sherlock at work to solve the crime. The second part follows the murderer, and his story. I really enjoyed how this was done; a very clever way to tell a story.

It’s a great first introduction to Sherlock, and to Arthur Conan Doyle’s work. I listened to this on audio book, the one narrated by Stephen Fry, which was a very pleasant listening experience.